A man has received a pig liver transplant in a world-first medical procedure.
The 71-year-old survived for almost half a year after receiving the pig's organ.
He underwent the surgery in China after a hepatitis B infection and cancer left him with irreversible scarring on his own liver, meaning he was not eligible for a human liver transplant.
The case marked the first time a liver from a genetically modified pig has been transplanted in a human.
Scientists in China described how they implanted an "auxiliary graft" from a genetically modified Diannan miniature pig for the procedure.
The graft was removed 38 days later after the anonymous patient began experiencing complications.
Though he initially recovered, he died 171 days after the first procedure.
Dr Beicheng Sun, from the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University in China’s Anhui Province, said: "This case proves that a genetically engineered pig liver can function in a human for an extended period.
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The pig liver was removed from the man after 38 days due to complications (file photo)
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"It is a pivotal step forward, demonstrating both the promise and the remaining hurdles."
Pigs are considered the most promising donor for transplants to humans, a process known as xenotransplantation, because of their availability, as well as their size and similarities to human organs.
Scientists have however, been working to overcome the rejection of pig organs by the human immune system for more than four decades, which has proved a complex challenge.
But techniques including genetically editing the pig and suppressing the immune system have shown promise in recent experiments.
The average wait time for a liver transplant in Britain on the NHS is five to seven months.
Writing in the Journal of Hepatology, researchers said they have found that genetically modified pig livers "can support key metabolic and synthetic functions in humans".
Dr Heiner Wedemeyer, co-editor of the Journal, said: "This report is a landmark in hepatology. It shows that a genetically modified porcine liver can engraft and deliver key hepatic functions in a human recipient."
"At the same time, it highlights the biological and ethical challenges that remain before such approaches can be translated into wider clinical use.
"Xenotransplantation may open completely new paths for patients with acute liver failure, acute-on-chronic liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma. A new era of transplant hepatology has started."
In 2022, another medical breakthrough occurred when scientists successfully carried out a heart transplant from a genetically modified pig.
The patient, 57-year-old David Bennett, died two months after the procedure at the University of Maryland Medical Centre in the US.
The first recipient of a genetically-modified pig kidney transplant died nearly two months after he underwent the procedure.
Richard Slayman had the transplant at Massachusetts General Hospital last year, aged 62.
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